Chapter 9
Thanks to Angela, Maura was now sitting beside Jane's bed with the rest of her family in the ICU. Because Jan had left Maura wasn't able to get into the ICU until the Rizzoli's told the staff that Maura was family so they allowed her into the ICU. Jane had been out of surgery for about 2 hours and she still hadn't woken up but Maura knew this was normal in a gunshot victim so she wasn't concerned. "Her brain has decided her body needs more time to recover so it has temporarily shut her body down."
"Is that a nice way of saying she's in a coma?" Frank asked from behind Maura.
Maura turned to talk to him. "No she's not in a coma, she's just unconscious. Her body needs to rest and we all know she wouldn't rest if she was conscious."
"There is that. She would be trying to get out of that bed right now and get back to work." Frankie laughed as he said it. "So she's going to be ok?"
"You all heard what Dr. Andrews said. She's going to be fine. She's going to have a long hard recovery ahead of her and we'll have to give her lots of help. The hard part is going to try to get her to accept that help"
"You might be the only person she'll listen to. We all know she doesn't listen to her Mother." Angela playfully complained.
"I always listen to you Ma I just don't always follow your advice." Jane smiled up at her Mother.
"See she's already arguing with me and she hasn't been awake for more than a minute. How are you feeling Janie?"
"Like I was hit by a Mac truck." Jane turned her head to see who was holding her other hand and was surprised to see Maura. She smiled shyly at her. "Hi."
"Hi, do need the nurse or anything? How's the pain?"
"Always the doctor huh?"
"Yes I guess I am." Maura stared at Jane oblivious of anyone else in the room now that she was awake. "You didn't answer my question, are you in any pain?"
"No I'm fine. Why are you here?"
"Because this is where I am supposed to be. By your side." Maura looked at Jane with tears beginning to shine in her eyes. "I am so sorry in so many ways. I never meant to hurt you." The tears began to fall in earnest. Neither woman noticed as Jane's family quietly slipped out of the room.
Jane tried to sit up and winced in pain. "What about Jill?"
"There is no Jill and there never was. It's always been you but I was afraid to tell you. I was too afraid that if I told you you would run the other way and I would lose you for good. I wish I had known how you felt. We could have avoided all of this."
"I guess I should have known better. Jill has always been a conniving bitch, I just didn't want to see it. When I broke up with her she told me she would get back at me but I didn't think she would wait this long and use you to accomplish it. I told you she knew what buttons to push and my Maura button was the most vulnerable."
Maura watched Jane very carefully and things began to make sense. "I had a feeling that she was more than a friend to you." Jane nodded. "This was all a game to her wasn't it?" Jane nodded again. "I never felt a thing for her, not even friendship. She was there when I saw you get angry and you know I go shopping when I am confused and she suggested we do just that. She was the reason I didn't get your call, and I'm so very sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most. She had my purse while I was trying on dresses so I didn't hear it ring when you called. She told me it never rang and I had no reason not to believe her."
"That's Jill for you. She told me she wanted you and that she would have you and I believed that's what I saw and heard and it broke my heart. I wanted to be the one to make you happy and when I heard her voice in the background when I called your house my mind jumped to the conclusion that she was spending the night and when she called later she inferred that was exactly what she was doing."
Maura stood up and took Jane's face between her hands and leaned down. "I kicked her out after she kissed me when I realized she wasn't and never would be you. I am so sorry I hurt you and it will never happen again if I can help it. You are the one Jane and you always have been." She closed the distance between her and Jane and gave her a tender kiss to seal the promise. When she started to pull away she felt a hand at the back of her neck gently pull her back.
"Do that again." Maura willingly complied but this time the kiss went much deeper and when she felt Jane's tongue asking for entrance she parted her lips and granted her request. Both pulled back when breathing became an issue. "Wow!" Jane said as she let her hand drop to the bed releasing Maura's head.
Maura sat back down on the chair and took Jane's hand in hers again. "Your family has been very understanding and generous. Korsak is mad at me and Frost isn't sure what to do. By the way, Frost was so worried about you that the blood didn't get to him until we were leaving and Korsak left him in charge of taking statements."
Jane laughed then got serious. "How many dead?"
"Three of the perpetrators and 5 people that were at the bank. They've got the 4th perpetrator down at headquarters and according to Korsak he is being interrogated by Boston's finest. I almost feel sorry for him. Almost."
"So why is Korsak mad at you?" Jane's thumb was softly stroking the back of Maura's hand and it was making it hard for Maura to think.
Maura licked her lips, like she sometimes did before she spoke and Jane had never realized how sexy she looked when she did that. "He blamed me for you getting shot because he thought I was cheating on you with Jill. I couldn't blame him because I felt the same thing even though she and I weren't doing anything. I kept thinking about you when I was with her. I had decided I was going to tell you how I felt and damn the consequences."
"Is this the same Maura I've talked to everyday for the past 3 years? The one who refused to call a redish brown stain blood, the one who will not speculate on cause of death and she's saying she is willing to throw caution to the wind and take a chance on the unknown?" Jane smiled at Maura and watched as she blushed.
"Yes Jane, for you I was willing to take a chance and tell you how I felt because it was driving me crazy to be around you and not act on those feelings. I hated when Jill monopolized the whole conversation at lunch yesterday and then she showed up at my house last night and said wanted to talk about you so how could I turn her away? "
"So what did she have to say about me?"
"Well as soon as she came in the house she complimented me on the clothes I was wearing and then we started talking about clothes. You know how I get when I start talking about clothes? Then we ran out of things to say and we sat there in silence and after a while it got uncomfortable, nothing like when we sit in silence. That's when she kissed me and I kicked her out."
"Did you like it?" Jane asked not really sure she wanted to know the answer.
"Did I like what?" Maura was confused.
"The kiss?" Maura threw back her head and laughed. "What are you laughing about? I'm serious."
"If I enjoyed it do you think I would kick her out? Of course I didn't like it. I didn't feel a thing."
"Good because I'd really hate to have to hurt her." Jane smiled at Maura. "And if she comes near you again I will hurt her."
"God I love it when you go all cave woman on me. I never thought you were the jealous type."
"I didn't realize I was until I fell for you. I hated it when you made those comments about guys butts, oops I mean gluteus maximus and you made goo goo eyes at them."
"Goo goo eyes, what the heck are goo goo eyes?" Jane imitated the look Maura had given the jock at the gym. "Jane I did not look at him that way."
"Maura you were practically drooling on that stair stepper." Jane laughed. "I always wished you would look at me that way."
"I did. I looked at you like that all the time when you weren't looking. Why do you think I wanted you to go to my yoga class with me? You wore that little sports bra thing and all that skin was exposed and it drove me crazy but it was sooo nice to look at." Maura wiggled her eyes as best as she could.
"So you were ogling me?" Jane asked and Maura's face broke into a huge smile then she nodded. "How come I didn't know that?"
"Because I didn't want you to know, don't you think that that would have given me away? Kind of defeats the purpose of ogling you when you aren't watching. If I wanted you to know I would have ogled you when you were watching and made sure you were aware of it. Too bad you wear those jackets all the time, I couldn't get a good look at your gluteus maximus at work." She smiled as she stood up and gave Jane another toe curling kiss.
"Damn Maura, if I had known you were such a good kisser I would have kissed you a long time ago. We've wasted so much time." Jane sighed in frustration.
"No Jane we have not wasted any time, we just spent our time getting to know each other and become friends first. Who better to have as your lover than your best friend? We already know what the other is like, so the first stage of a relationship has already been taken care of."
"So now we can just jump to the really getting to know you stage?" Jane wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Then she got serious. "Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to show you how much you mean to me? How much I want to make love to you? How much I want to hold you as we fall asleep? Come here."
"What are you up to?" Maura watched as Jane scooted over on the bed then patted the bed beside her. "You want me to sit beside you?"
"No, I want you to lie down beside me." Jane gave Maura her best puppy dog look and watched as little by little Maura was weakening then looked behind her to make sure the door was closed then carefully climb into bed beside Jane.
Jane tried to put her arm around Maura but she winced in pain. Maura started to get back out of the bed. "See I thought this was a bad idea. You're in pain."
"What you don't want to lie down next to me?"
"Of course I do but not at your expense. If it causes you pain then we should wait." Maura was sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Let's try this again, lie down slowly, this time I won't try to put my arm around you." Maura slowly lowered her body so that it was flush against Jane's and they both sighed in contentment. "Just what I thought. A perfect fit."
Maura slid her arm under Jane's shoulders so that she could hold her closer. "Yes this feels perfect."
"When was the last time you slept?" Jane turned her head to look at her.
Maura looked at the watch on her wrist and was shocked to see what time it was. "That would be about 20 hours ago. I didn't realize that much time had passed."
"Let's try to get some sleep ok? Close your eyes and relax." They kissed once more before they settle in to get comfortable. "Will you be here when I wake up?"
"Oh Jane of course I will." She leaned up and kisses her again. "Now rest."
That was how Angela found them the next morning. She smiled then settled into the chair to wait for them to wake up. She was reading a magazine when she heard the first stirrings from the bed. Jane looked to her right and saw Angela. "Morning Ma." She whispered.
"I see you two worked things out." Angela whispered back then smiled towards Maura. "She took things pretty hard and blamed herself for this whole thing."
Jane looked lovingly down at the sleeping woman in her bed. "I know we talked it out and I think things will be ok."
Maura snuggled closer to Jane in her sleep. "She refused to leave while you were in surgery. Then looked ready to tear the place apart when they told her she couldn't come back because she wasn't family. Your Father convinced them that she was family therefore she should be allowed into the ICU."
"Pops did that? Good for him."
"Korsak told me that she pushed past the nurse's station after they brought you in and she watched as they got you ready for surgery. After she came to the waiting room she just sat in a chair and stared ahead unless someone engaged her in conversation. She blamed herself and she felt everyone else did too. I finally knocked that nonsense out of her head and she started to relax a bit. Frankie and your Father told her they didn't blame her either and finally she let her emotions go and started crying. She's a tough one Janie but she's worth fighting for."
"Thanks Ma, that means a lot to me and I'm sure Maura appreciated what you guys did for her. We're going to have to break her in slowly.'
"Break who in?" Maura slowly woke up and stretched on the bed until she turned over and saw Angela and she jumped out of the bed. "Hello Angela." Maura was trying to smooth out her dress as she turned to Angela.
Angela laughed as she watched Maura trying to act like she didn't just catch her in her daughter's bed. "Too late I already caught you trying to attack my daughter. Now you're going to have to make her an honest woman."
Maura finally gave up on trying to look presentable and laughed at Angela. Then she made a serious face andlooked at Angela like she was considering her options. "Well Mrs. Rizzoli, since you already caught us in a compromising position I guess I will have to do the right thing." She turned to Jane with an equally serious expression. "Jane Rizzoli will you marry me?" Then she smiled her most beguiling smile.
"Maura Isles are you cracking jokes? Ma what did you do to her while I was unconscious? My Maura doesn't crack jokes. She's always serious." Maura smiled at Angela who smiled back at her. "What are you two smiling about?"
Angela walked over to the bed and took Jane's hand in hers. "Since when have you considered Maura your property?"
Once again Jane looked between the two women with a very confused look in her face. "What are you talking about Ma?"
"You said 'My Maura doesn't crack jokes' that sounds kind of possessive to me. How about you Maura doesn't that sound possessive?"
"Stop it Ma I did not say that." Jane turned to Maura. "I didn't say that did I?"
Maura walked over and took Jane's other hand. "Yes you did and I liked the way it sounded."
"Oh man this is so not fair, the two of you ganging up on me while I'm under the influence of drugs is not fair!"
"Janie don't whine, it's unbecoming and your future bride over there might change her mind and run." Angela winked at Maura.
"No Angela she's stuck with me now."
"I can't win can I?" Jane huffed in frustration but smiled up at both of them.
Maura started laughing. "Jane we are not ganging up on you. Your Mother is just having some fun at your expense." Maura turned to Angela. "Behave yourself Angela, she's right, she's under the influence of some very good pain killers and it really isn't fair to pick on her when she can't fight back."
"I didn't say I can't fight back, I just said it wasn't fair that you are ganging up on me." Jane smiled up at her Mother and Maura. She was surprised at how fast Maura took to her Mother but she liked it. She looked past Maura to see her Father walking through the door.
Maura turned around and saw him too. "I guess maybe I should leave, it's getting crowded in here." She turned towards Jane prepared to say goodbye.
"Not unless you really want to leave. Your friend Jan is breaking the rules again and she said we could all be in here if we keep the noise to a minimum. So if you really want to go home you can but you're welcome to stay." Frank said as he leaned down to kiss Jane on the cheek.
"Hey Pops." Jane looked over Frank's shoulder to see if Maura was going to stay or not.
"Well since I was able to sleep I guess I could stay for a while longer as long as I'm not intruding on family time." Maura turned to Jane and was rewarded with a big smile that lit up her eyes.
"Nonsense Maura if what Angie tells me is true you're family, so you have just as much of a right to be here as we do." Frank turned and smiled at Jane to show her he approved of her choice in partners.
Jane smiled back then looked at her mother who was smiling bigger than she was. Jane turned back to Maura. "You sure have been busy haven't you? You won over Pops that fast huh? By the way, who's Jan?"